I would say that this was a busy week, but every week is a busy week these days.
LinkSwarm for February 1, 2013
February 1st, 2013Abbott Rising
January 31st, 2013There’s much news about Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott as of late, so I’m just going to put it all here in this big virtual pile:
Rick Perry’s State of the State Address
January 30th, 2013Rick Perry delivered his State of the State address on Tuesday. Here’s the complete text.
And here’s the speech itself:
A mixture of interesting tidbits on the Texas success story, some generic inspirational boilerplate, and some broad outline policy proposals.
Good: More constrained spending, tax cuts, no ObamaCare expansion.
Probably bad: “$3.7 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for a one-time investment in infrastructure programs.” There are, in fact, some infrastructure improvements that would be made around the state, but Perry has occasionally supported infrastructure boondoggles (like the Trans-Texas Corridor) in the past.
The general outlines are very good, but the devil is in the details, which should be forthcoming in the current legislative session.
Ted Cruz Lays a Glorious Smackdown on Rahm Emanuel
January 29th, 2013Senator Ted Cruz is already doing a bangup job bringing the conservative message to Washington. Today’s example: laying a glorious smackdown on Chicago mayor (and former Obama chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel over the latter’s trying to pressure banks into not doing business with gun manufacturers.
Take, for example, this:
We do not accept the notion that government officials should behave as bullies, trying to harass or pressure private companies into enlisting in a political lobbying campaign. And we subscribe to the notion, quaint in some quarters, that private companies don’t work for elected officials; elected officials work for private citizens.
And this:
In light of the reception you have received in the Windy City, please know that Texas would certainly welcome more of your business and jobs you create.
And this:
Should Mayor Emanuel’s bullying campaign prove successful, I am confident that there are numerous financial institutions in Texas that would be eager to earn your business. And in the event that it might prove helpful, I would be happy to introduce you to their leaders.
And…well, just read the whole thing:
Letter from Senator Ted Cruz to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Bank of America, TD Bank Group, Smith & Wes… by Senator Ted Cruz
California: Completely Screwed
January 29th, 2013Instead of going out and doing the heavy lifting myself on a Texas vs. California update, Victor Davis Hanson [[Corrected. – LP]] has done another of his California is totally screwed pieces, and it’s a cornucopia of facts on California’s decline.
A few tidbits:
Read the whole thing.
Random Gene Wolfe Quote
January 28th, 2013Most Gene Wolfe-related posts go on my other blog, but I thought this one fit nicely here:
America is in trouble (as it always is). The chief problem is that it is ruled by an elite that is out of touch with the mass of the governed. It’s a fairly recent problem, and will be fixed in one way or another. America is still the greatest nation on Earth.
— Gene Wolfe, as interviewed by Nick Gevers in 2002. Peter Wright, editor. Shadows on the New Sun: Wolfe on Writing/Writers on Wolfe. Liverpool University Press, 2007. Page 183.
Texas vs. California: January 24, 2013 Roundup
January 24th, 2013Meant to put some of these up with Tuesday’s roundup and just misplaced them:
Six California counties with their own pensions (instead of paying into the Golden State’s Public Employees’ Retirement System) would actually have to pay down $10 billion in pension deficits, versus the $4 billion they currently report bad on inflated rates of return. As a result, these counties would be expected by bondholders to pay out $1.4 billion a year just to pay down their pension deficits, more than double the $640 million they currently pay. For Contra Costa County near San Francisco, the percentage of property tax dollars devoted to pension deficit pay down would increase from 33 percent to 54 percent, crowding out funding for basic municipal activities. In short, these governments would be considered technically insolvent under Moody’s model.
I Guess He Wasn’t Faking
January 23rd, 2013From Dwight comes word that Amado Pardo, Austin Restaurateur, convicted murderer, Democratic fundraiser, and accused heroin dealer has died. Last week I reported that he was in a coma and released to hospice care.
Obviously he won’t stand trial February 11 on the heroin distribution ring charges he was facing (though his wife has already plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance).
David Cameron Suddenly Remembers He’s a Tory
January 23rd, 2013Well well well, maybe David Cameron has some cobbles after all.
Cameron has generally presided over the “wettest” Tory administration the UK has seen since Neville Chamberlain, but today he delivered a veritable pipe bomb of a speech on the future of the European Union.
First, the problems in the Eurozone are driving fundamental change in Europe. Second, there is a crisis of European competitiveness, as other nations across the world soar ahead. And third, there is a gap between the EU and its citizens which has grown dramatically in recent years. And which represents a lack of democratic accountability and consent that is – yes – felt particularly acutely in Britain.
Also this:
If Europe today accounts for just over 7 per cent of the world’s population, produces around 25 per cent of global GDP and has to finance 50 per cent of global social spending, then it’s obvious that it will have to work very hard to maintain its prosperity and way of life.
While Obama is certainly doing his best to make sure America’s portion of that last figure increases (driving down Europe’s share as a side effect), what Cameron is saying here is both obviously true and absolutely unacceptable to the Euroelite: The European cradle-to-grave welfare state is unsustainable.
And this:
People are increasingly frustrated that decisions taken further and further away from them mean their living standards are slashed through enforced austerity or their taxes are used to bail out governments on the other side of the continent.
Cameron basically stood up and pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes.
Still more:
More of the same will not secure a long-term future for the Eurozone. More of the same will not see the European Union keeping pace with the new powerhouse economies. More of the same will not bring the European Union any closer to its citizens. More of the same will just produce more of the same – less competitiveness, less growth, fewer jobs.
“Hey dumbasses: stop digging!!”
And still more:
I want us to be at the forefront of transformative trade deals with the US, Japan and India as part of the drive towards global free trade. And I want us to be pushing to exempt Europe’s smallest entrepreneurial companies from more EU Directives.
These should be the tasks that get European officials up in the morning – and keep them working late into the night. And so we urgently need to address the sclerotic, ineffective decision making that is holding us back.
That means creating a leaner, less bureaucratic Union, relentlessly focused on helping its member countries to compete.
In a global race, can we really justify the huge number of expensive peripheral European institutions?
Can we justify a Commission that gets ever larger?
Can we carry on with an organisation that has a multi-billion pound budget but not enough focus on controlling spending and shutting down programmes that haven’t worked?
And I would ask: when the competitiveness of the Single Market is so important, why is there an environment council, a transport council, an education council but not a single market council?
And here we have a Tory Prime Minister actually sounding like…a Tory! Who would have thunk it?
Thatcher or Reagan he’s not, but this is bold stuff given the Eurocentric tenor of post-Thatcher UK governments.
Oh: He also wants a referendum on EU membership by 2017.
Reactions from the Eurocratic elite has been predictable: How dare Cameron slander our magnificently robed Emperor? And naturally all of them focus on the referendum than his substantive critique of the increasing collectivist, bureaucratic and unsustainable EU.
Good show, Cameron old boy, good show. (Golf clap)